Gao Gong was very impressed by Tu Zemin's proposal and urged Emperor Longqing to open the sea and lift the ban.

Unexpectedly, he encountered strong opposition from the censors and many conservative officials. Gao Gong argued with them fiercely but still lost the court debate.

The procedures for the Ming Dynasty's major events, such as the deliberation of the court, the nomination of ministers, and the trial of major cases, were similar, and in the end it all depended on which side had the most support. The six department heads and thirteen censors could all participate, and they liked to stick together, so they had a great influence on the major events of the court.

Thanks to Kodao's unremitting dragging of its feet, only one port was finally opened, and the volume of trade was strictly limited, making the so-called opening of the sea a joke.

Behind those censors stands the huge Southeast smuggling interest group.

Gao Gong saw through this point and set the opening point at Yuegang, dividing the Fujian merchants from the Jiangnan merchants. He then instructed Lin Run, whom he had arranged in Jiangnan earlier, to secretly deal with the nine major families in order to disintegrate the southeastern smuggling group.

Later, when Gao Gong stepped down, Lin Run's situation became very dangerous, but he never gave up his mission and persisted in attacking the Jiangnan nobles. However, he encountered a fire in Shanghai. How could Longqing not think too much?

"Your Majesty, do you think this is not an accident?" Zhang Juzheng's heart skipped a beat. He did not expect that Lin Run had another special mission. It seemed that the struggle in Jiangnan was much more cruel than he had expected.

It seems that it is useless for the two ministers to withhold the confession.

"Of course I hope it's just an accident." Long Qing said solemnly, "But as long as you have a relationship with those people in the southeast, there will be too many accidents."

"Back then, my uncle, Emperor Wu Zongyi, was on a southern tour and accidentally fell into the water at Qingjiangpu. Although he was quickly rescued, he fell ill and died a few months later." The emperor's eyes were slightly red, and he quickly picked up a piece of talisman porcelain to play with it to calm himself down, and said:

"The Imyin Palace Coup that the previous emperor, Emperor Sejong Suk, encountered was equally bizarre and full of mysteries, and in the end it could only be attributed to an accident. So I have to ask, why is it that as soon as the group of people in the southeast took action, an accident that was beneficial to them would happen? Isn't this too coincidental?"

"If there are too many coincidences, it's no longer an accident!" Long Qing said, and then he became angry and slammed the teacup on the table.

With a snap, the porcelain as thin as a cicada's wing suddenly cracked.

"Oh my..." Emperor Longqing was so distressed. This is a set! If one is broken, it will be incomplete!

He became even angrier and shouted at Zhang Juzheng: "Some people simply have no respect for the emperor and are lawless!"

Zhang Juzheng quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm down. We will thoroughly investigate this case. No matter who is involved, how high his official position is, or how powerful he is, we will bring him to justice!"

Seeing that Zhang Juzheng's attitude was quite upright, Longqing's expression eased a little and said, "Of course I trust Master Zhang."

"I am ashamed that I am alone and cannot meet your majesty's expectations." Zhang Juzheng took the opportunity to say, "Your Majesty, if Gao Suqing does not come out, the evil spirits will not be suppressed."

"Hmm..." Longqing nodded and slowly sat down. Chen Hong hurriedly changed a talisman porcelain for him to play with.

After a while, the emperor regained his composure and said, "Of course I dream of Master Gao's return. But he failed in the three times he was nominated as a Grand Secretary in the past six months. I have tried to get Master Gao back three times, and I dare not make enemies for him anymore."

The emperor naturally had the right to veto the result of the imperial recommendation, but this would naturally infuriate the people, who would think that the emperor had violated public opinion and acted on his own. The elected officials who were vetoed would be even more resentful, and they would not dare to do anything to the emperor, but would direct their anger at the person who caused all this.

Gao Gong was not popular to begin with, and now he became even less popular.

Zhang Juzheng nodded. The recommendation of Grand Secretary would involve the Ministry of Education. Judging from the current situation, it would be extremely difficult for Gao Gong to take this path.

"I also issued an order to invite Master Gao back to Beijing." Longqing sighed again, "But he refused."

Of course, the emperor could also directly appoint officials in addition to the imperial recommendation. This was called "special appointment". For example, Zhang Cong and Gui E were specially appointed as cabinet ministers by Emperor Jiajing.

However, this kind of promotion violated political conventions and was deeply opposed by the officials. It hindered their work in every way and they would be attacked by everyone if they made a mistake. Therefore, Zhang Cong and Gui'e only worked for a few years and left after completing their historical mission.

Gao Gong obviously did not want to repeat the tragic fate of Zhang Gui and Zhang Gui...

"That's understandable," Zhang Juzheng said softly, "If a special appointment is made, Prime Minister Gao will be in a very difficult situation."

"What's the good idea Master Zhang has?" Emperor Longqing was at a loss.

"In my humble opinion, there is a good opportunity to make a detour." Zhang Juzheng said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty can appoint Prime Minister Gao as the Imperial Envoy to the Southeast. This position has no rank or grade, it is just an assignment, so naturally there is no need for a recommendation from the court. When Prime Minister Gao pacifies the chaos in the southeast, it will be natural for him to return to the court. Who can stop him from re-entering the cabinet by then?"

"Oh! What a good idea!" Long Qing's eyes lit up, and he slapped his thigh and said, "Why didn't I think of this? Let's use this method to get Master Gao out of retirement. Wouldn't it be easier when he comes out?"

"Then when is the best time to issue the decree?" Longqing asked again.

He was willing to exchange a complete set of Jin Ping Mei porcelain for his master Gao. Well, this is a sincere relationship that goes beyond the relationship between a monarch and his subjects, a teacher and his apprentice!

"Don't be impatient, Your Majesty." Zhang Juzheng said calmly, "Prime Minister Gao is a retired deputy minister. How can we move the country's most important weapon lightly? We have to let someone take the lead first, so that we can come on stage with justification."

"Master Zhang means..." Longqing touched the talisman porcelain with his hand, his face suddenly understood, but he was actually full of doubts. What was going on with all these twists and turns?

"What I mean is, wait a while. Let the successor Yingtian governor investigate the case. There are only two possible outcomes: either there will be no evidence and the matter will be reduced to a small one, or it will become a mess and out of control. No matter which one happens, Gao can be reinstated as prime minister with justification."

"I understand the latter one, but can you make a big deal out of a small one?" Longqing smacked his lips in confusion, feeling that even the donkey intestine sashimi was not tasty anymore.

"Your Majesty, since you are sure that there is something else going on, if the governor dares to make a big deal out of it, he is deceiving the emperor. Your Majesty should just issue an order to dismiss him and investigate him, and then reinstate Gao Xiang in anger. Who dares to object?" Then Zhang Juzheng said in a cold voice, "Anyone who objects is a traitor and should be dismissed!"

"Hiss..." Emperor Longqing tasted the flavor and nodded. He could take the opportunity to deal with those malicious censors without making enemies for Master Gao. This method was very effective.

But he thought of another possibility and couldn't help asking, "What if the imperial envoy succeeds in handling this case?"

"Haha..." Bu Gu smiled confidently, his beautiful beard swaying in front of his chest. "It's impossible. Jiangnan has been suffering from long-standing problems and is in a desperate situation. No one can solve this problem except Prime Minister Gao."

ps Second update, please vote for me!